Doves?

dovehunter · #1 09-06-2009, 11:33 AM

Did anyone do any good on the dove opener yesterday? I have had worse opening days but it's been a while. I did get a few birds here in central Virginia but the shots were few and far between. Maybe when it cools down a bit and some of the northern birds start to migrate south.

Dan Morris · #2 09-06-2009, 05:30 PM

DH, went, saw 0 doves, as stated in another post, dove hunting and Colorado are a crap shoot...LOL
Dan

fabsroman · #3 09-06-2009, 10:23 PM

I'm glad I wasn't the only one that had a terrible opening day. I went out there with 2 swollen ankles (which is a story for another day), sat in the field for about 4 hours, saw all of 2 doves, and never once pulled the trigger. Along with my dad and I, there were 2 other guys hunting. They killed all of one dove between the two of them, which was the only dove they shot at the entire time I was there. This was pretty much the worst opening day on doves that I have ever had. To come home without a single bird was incredible. To come home without even pulling the trigger was unbelievable.

My dog was doing a great job of healing, but even he started to feel it. Towards the end of the day he started looking at every sparrow, crow, and buzzard that flew by and he started whining when I didn't get up to shoot. Then, with less than 30 minutes in the day, he started following the planes on the flight path into BWI airport and he started whining at them. That made me feel even worse. Almost shot 3 pigeons that came by just so he could have something to retrieve.

The last time I went hunting on opening day and didn't get a dove was when I was in my early single digits, which was about 30 years ago. I must have been 7 or 8 years old at the time.

The only thing I can think of is that we had a little cold spell here the two days before opening day and it might have driven the birds south, but I'm not completely sure about that either because when I got back to my place I saw doves galore coming into the pines to roost. Just pour salt into the wounds, why don't they.

Let's hope the rest of the season gets better.

dovehunter · #4 09-07-2009, 08:09 AM

fabsroman:

We experienced that same cool spell you mentioned last week. A couple of days it never got out of the 60s - really unusual weather for us this time of year. That may very well have had something to do with the lack of doves on opening day. In all fairness though I must admit that Saturday I was hunting a farm on which no corn had been cut. Today I will be hunting (where I should have gone Saturday) a farm on which probably 1/2 to 2/3 of the corn has been cut. I've got another place that has field of about 4-5 acres planted in sunflowers. That's one I will definitely be watching closely once it's cut. Things have got to get better. They couldn't have been much worse.

dovehunter · #5 09-08-2009, 11:54 AM

I hit lotto yesterday and got my limit in just a couple of hours. Birds were flying everywhere and (for a change) I was able to hit them on a consistent basis. It was one of those (at least for me) rare days when everything just seems to go right.

fabsroman · #6 09-09-2009, 11:52 PM

I need one of those rare days myself. Glad to hear you had success.

multibeard · #7 09-10-2009, 04:49 AM

When the dove season went on the ballot a few years ago I knew that we would lose.

Alot of the hunters of the state woud not even support it. You can not beat the millions of idiots in the Detroit area of the state that have no clue to the real world. They think that the meat they eat was grown in those packages in the meat case.

They year we did have a season on the southern border counties, we were hunting a 5 acre wheat field for geese up north that had just been overseeded with alfalfa. It was a dove hunters dream. There had to be 500 doves feeding in the field.

To far for me to drive to Indiana for a chance to shoot dove.

dovehunter · #8 09-10-2009, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by multibeard

When the dove season went on the ballot a few years ago I knew that we would lose.

Alot of the hunters of the state woud not even support it. You can not beat the millions of idiots in the Detroit area of the state that have no clue to the real world. They think that the meat they eat was grown in those packages in the meat case.

They year we did have a season on the southern border counties, we were hunting a 5 acre wheat field for geese up north that had just been overseeded with alfalfa. It was a dove hunters dream. There had to be 500 doves feeding in the field.

To far for me to drive to Indiana for a chance to shoot dove.

I feel for you multibeard. If I couldn't hunt doves here in Virginia I swear I believe I would move. Our problem here in Virginia (though not as bad as yours) is not being able to hunt at all on Sundays. I firmly believe that the continuation of this absolutely stupid law is due in large part to hunter apathy. I think if enough of us complained long enough and loud enough that the General Assembly would have to listen. Maybe in a few years. I know our Va. Dept. of Game & Inland Fisheries has been looking at a number of "test the waters" type plans to place before the legislature to at least get Sunday hunting's foot in the door.